 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: tww
Date: 2003-05-07 22:59
Hi,
I use two different mouthpieces (for different situations) with the same type of reeds. I recently took a reed that I used extensively on one mouthpiece and that worked well, and when I tried it on my other mouthpiece (something I hadn't done before), it behaved very strangely. At first I found this discouraging, but I am wondering if the reed was "used to" vibrating along the patterns of the one mouthpiece surface, so it got confused vibrating on a different facing. Have other people experienced reeds being partial to the mouthpiece they've been played on?
Would this mean that new reeds would be best for trying out a new mouthpiece?
Thanks,
- tww
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Author: funkymunky
Date: 2003-05-08 00:32
Wood will conform to things mostly when they are wet. Like making a violin or a piano. The reed conforms to the mouthpiece and probably has a slighly different table that the last one, will make a big difference. I had a vintage Berg Larson metal MP that played smooth and a tiny bit muffled, with soft notes. After I looked at the table it had a tiny bit of rust,and ever so gently sanded it off. Made the mouthpiece loud and blaringly clear. Soooo table and reed contact is very important.
Always take the reed off the mouthpiece when not in use. So it does not start take a certain shape. After playing rewet reed and place on glass or CD case to flatten it. Selmer reed cases come with glass inside even though they are horribly expensive they work extremely well.
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Author: Benni
Date: 2003-05-08 02:24
Actually, I'd dry my reeds as much as possible by wiping the excess moisture off before storing them. Storing a reed wet, no matter how good of a reed case you have, can lead to warpage, especially the dreaded crinkly tip! ![[whoa]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie10.gif)
However, if you do have a crinkly tip reed and it doesn't flatten itself out after a bit, you can wet it and press it on a flat piece of glass (or, as a clarinet professor once told me, the tip to the table of your mpc) to straighten it out.
Of course, your original question is dealing more with the reeds conforming to the facing of one mpc or the other. (This was more in reply to the reply.) That is a perfectly normal thing and why you shouldn't test mpcs with a broken-in reed. True, it makes the testing process a little more difficult, but it is best to test mpcs with a handful of new reeds so you are not using one that is incorrectly adapted to the facing.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2003-05-08 02:35
Another possiblity would be that the mouthpieces have different degrees of curvature. For instance, the newer V12s have a different tip than the older V12s (years back). The mouthpieces may have different curvatures. So even if everything else on the mouthpiece was the same (which it isn't like stated above), the reed would STILL act differently.
Best thing for testing mouthpieces are having new reeds, and in varying strengths (what you normally play, a half strength higher and lower). Try each on every mouthpiece.
Yes the reed warps and shapes itself to the mouthpiece. As for drying them, I also dry them as much as I can with my fingers, and I bought a reed stone from The Doctor (sneezy sponsor) which works great to dry out (although I don't store reeds there) and is a great price as well (IMO).
BTW - I remember a posting talking about someone (professional) who would refuse to take the reed off the mouthpiece because they felt it played better once it was shaped. THey left it on the mouthpiece for about a week or so and then changed reeds and started again. Everyone has his/her preferences as to how to care for reeds.
Alexi
US Army Japan Band
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Author: funkymunky
Date: 2003-05-08 02:51
Of course reeds should be stored dry but if there is a warpage problem between mouthpieces it should lay flat and wet till dry, then you can store it. Will keep the tip straight. I noticed the tip will warp if stored not real dry so I just like to keep them from warping instead of fixing before playing.
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Author: Burt
Date: 2003-05-08 03:33
The same box of reeds will have some harder than others. Likely, one mouthpiece works better with reeds from one end of the range, and the other works better with reeds from the other end.
You must keep your ligature much higher on the mouthpiece than I keep mine. My ligature grips the reed where the table is flat; it is my embouchure, not my ligature which bends the reed. So I say that my mouthpiece is not creating a memory effect in my reeds.
Funkymunky, that's an interesting observation about the sax mouthpieces. I'll remember not to sand mine.
Burt
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Author: BobD
Date: 2003-05-08 12:16
Woodworkers traditionally steam wood so as to bend it so it probly shouldn't be surprising that wet reeds might take on the shape of the mouthpiece to which they are attached. Secondly, the two mouthpieces probably don't have identical dimensions and so perhaps any reed would respond differently on them.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-05-08 12:22
I try out mouthpieces with the Legere reed, it's imperturbable.
Two things to ponder (as your question is impossible to solve by wire):
How long had you played the reed in question prior to the swap?
- I can play a reed for an hour of solid 16th notes, and must put on another
after the intermission. Dunno why, but the reed seems to 'tire'.
Do you know if both facings have flat tables?
- A table may have a convex or concave profile, and this would force the
reed to deform slightly under the ligature, it should return to flat when
stored overnight to dry.
I find new reeds to be erratic out of the box, and would consider any test prior to the 5th day of reed 'break in' (adjustment) premature.
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Author: Bradley
Date: 2003-05-08 15:03
I have noticed that this happens with my reeds if I play with them for a while using one plate/flap combination on my EDII lig. When I change the flap position sometimes with reeds they start to close up because I guess its not the same type of pressure holding them to the mouthpiece as the other location of the flaps (sometimes the flaps are behind the metal sometimes in front with direct contact on the reed). Is that basically what's happening with me as well?
Bradley
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Author: Mikey
Date: 2003-05-08 15:27
This is why when you try out new mouthpieces you need to use new reeds. Different reeds respond differently on different mouthpieces. When I use an old reed on a different mouthpiece, I am still hearing qualities of the old mouthpiece.
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Author: Synonymous Botch
Date: 2003-05-08 16:30
Um, doesn't that introduce MORE variables to the test?
[ Insulting snide comment deleted. Watch it. Mark C. ]
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